Syracuse seeded No. 3 in South for NCAA Tournament

Looking back at all of the NCAA men's basketball tournament games played by Syracuse in the Jim Boeheim era. The Orange are 53-30 in the tournament since he took over in 1976.

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2015-16

Syracuse was one of the last teams to make the NCAA Tournament but the Orange were one of the last teams remaining in March Madness. Syracuse squeaked in on Selection Sunday but made an unexpected and historic run, becoming the first No. 10 seed to make the Final Four. Syracuse became known for its comebacks in the tourney, rallying for late victories against Gonzaga and No. 1 seed Virginia.

In early February, Syracuse announced a self-imposed postseason ban for the 2015 season in response to a pending case before the NCAA Committee on Infractions. The punishment meant the Orange, who were already in danger of missing the NCAA Tournament at that point, would have to sit out the Big Dance, as well as the ACC Tournament.

In March, the NCAA released its findings and further punished the Orange. The team will lose a total of 12 scholarships over four years, incur financial penalties, vacate wins and head coach Jim Boeheim will have to sit out nine conference games for the 2015-16 season.

Fun fact: After the Orange survived a first-round scare from UNC Asheville -- they trailed 34-30 at the half -- they won their 32nd game, which marked the highest win total in Boeheim's career. His 1987 NCAA runner-up team had 31 wins, while the 2003 championship team, and three others, notched 30 victories.

Fun fact: A Jim Boeheim milestone was put on hold -- for a while. The Syracuse coach came into the Oklahoma game with 799 career wins, but ran into Blake Griffin (30 points, 14 rebounds) and Tony Crocker (28 points) and was denied his 800th win and a berth in the Elite 8.

Final record: 28-10

Jim Boeheim reacts on the sideline during a late-season game against Pitt. AP photo

2008

Missed the tournament

Syracuse finished the 2007-08 season with a 21-14 record and was not awarded a berth in the NCAA tournament.

The Orange played in the NIT and won twice before losing to UMass, 81-77.

Jim Boeheim reacts to a call during a game against DePaul.AP photo

2007

Missed the tournament

Syracuse finished the 2006-07 season with a 24-11 record and was not awarded a berth in the NCAA tournament.

The Orange played in the NIT and won twice before losing to Clemson, 74-70.

Texas A&M coach Billy Gillispie gets fired up during his team's first-round game against the Orange. AP photo

Fun fact: The Orange weren't even supposed to be here. But guard Gerry McNamara cemented himself in Syracuse lore the week before with his performance in the Big East tournament. He nailed clutch shots night after night to lead the No. 9 Orange to an improbable title. Perhaps the team was out of gas by the time it ran into Acie Law and the Aggies, which was making its first tournament appearance since 1987.

Fun fact: This one ain't fun for the Orange, but the upset was quite a feel-good story for the Catamounts and their coach, Tom Brennan, who had already announced his retirement. This was Vermont's first tournament win in school history.

Fun fact: Carmelo Anthony scored 20 points in the title game and became the third freshman to win the Most Outstanding Player award. He had poured in 53 points in the previous two games, victories over No. 1 seeds Oklahoma and Texas. Now, there's a fairly large building named after him on campus.

Final record: 30-5

Syracuse guard Preston Shumpert, who suffered an eye injury in the Big East Tournament, practices before the Orange play Hawaii in the first round of the 2001 tournament. AP photo

NCAA tournament

2000-02

2002

Syracuse (23-13) failed to make the NCAA tournament. Instead, the Orange played in the NIT and went 3-2, losing to South Carolina (66-59) and Temple (65-54) in the consolation game.

SYRACUSE – Syracuse University's late-season swoon created plenty of concern among fans about whether the Orange would still shuffle off to Buffalo or be shipped out of the Empire State for the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament.

But the tournament selection committee rewarded SU on Sunday night, choosing to judge coach Jim Boeheim's club more on its 27-5 overall record, 14-4 mark in the ACC as the league's regular-season runner-up and 7-3 record against Top-50 teams. A 25-0 start that propelled it to No. 1 in the country for three weeks also probably was a factor. SU was given the No. 3 seed in the South Region and will face No. 14 Western Michigan in Thursday's opener at approximately 2:45 p.m. in what's sure to be an Orange-tinted First Niagara Center in Buffalo. The Broncos (23-9) torched Toledo, 99-78, on Saturday to win the Mid-American Conference Tournament championship and earn an automatic bid, their first since 2004.

"I think we're right where we should be, as a three seed. We had a great year this year," SU senior forward C.J. Fair said on Sunday night at the team's practice facility shortly after the field of 68 was announced. "Of course, we had a little losing streak toward the end of the season."

That 2-5 skid, along with SU's sputtering offense, is what had fans worried the Orange may have fallen from being a top-four seed. The committee tries to reward 1-4 seeds by keeping them closer to home. So all SU's shaky finish did was cost it being seeded in the East Region, meaning it would have played at Madison Square Garden if it reached the Sweet 16. The Garden, where SU spent the past three decades in the Big East Tournament, is like a home away from the Carrier Dome.

So instead of MSG, if SU beats Western Michigan on Thursday and No. 6 Ohio State (25-9) or No. 11 Dayton (23-10) on Saturday, it'll head to Memphis, Tenn. for the regional semifinals. That's where No. 2 Kansas (24-9) could be waiting. After that could be top-seeded Florida (32-2), the SEC regular-season and tournament champion. The committee rated the Gators as the tournament's overall No. 1.

So if you look beyond Buffalo, the committee really didn't do the Orange many favors. SU's road back to the Final Four will be very difficult. Could this team do what last year's did, which was reach the Final Four as No. 4 seed after it also slumped late in the season?

"I'm as confident of this team going into this tournament right now as I was last year of the team," Boeheim said, adding that while he knows SU's offense has struggled he thinks his club is one of the best defensive teams in the country. "Defense is important all the time and I think it's especially important in the NCAA Tournament."

Syracuse's seeding history in the NCAAs

The NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament began seeding its teams in 1978. Since then, the Syracuse Orange have made the tourney 31 times and have never been seeded lower than No. 8 (1999). Syracuse has earned a No. 1 seed three times (2012, 2010, 1980).

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SU is coming off Friday's 66-63 loss to North Carolina State in the ACC Tournament quarterfinals when it shot 33 percent. Fair was 3-for-16 shooting, freshman point guard Tyler Ennis was 6-for-18 and shooting guard Trevor Cooney 1-for-6. Cooney played on an injured ankle.

Boeheim said Cooney just took shots Sunday in practice and he thinks the sophomore "probably" will practice Monday. "He should be at full strength by Thursday," Boeheim said.

He also said he thinks Grant, who was bothered by a sore lower back in three games and missed a loss at home to Georgia Tech, is now "at full strength" after playing in a win at Florida State and against N.C. State.

"I think getting everybody back together is huge for us," Boeheim said.

He has said SU needs all of its parts to be successful.

It's the sixth time Syracuse is a No. 3 seed. The last time, in 2011, it was upset by No. 11 Marquette, a fellow Big East team at the time, 66-62 in Cleveland. But the Orange were a No. 3 in 2003, too, when they won their only NCAA title.

"There's no such thing as an easy starting game in the NCAA Tournament anymore," Boeheim said, giving a nod to a Western Michigan, which is led by senior guard David Brown (19.4 points per game) and 6-foot-11 Shayne Whittington (16.3 ppg/9.1 rebounds).

With the parity in college basketball, Boeheim expects it to be a tournament filled with upsets, just hopefully not featuring his team until the Sweet 16.

"You're going to see a lot of games that could go either way," he said. "It's just kind of what's happened this year in college basketball."

That certainly was the case for Syracuse, which won its first 10 games decided by 10 points or fewer, but has gone 1-5 in close ones since. Could having a home-court like edge help in Buffalo?

"I think it's good to be in Buffalo. It's close by, but where you play isn't that much of a factor. It's how you play that really matters," Boeheim said.

The Orange also played in Buffalo in the opening rounds in 2010 as No. 1 seed, beating Vermont and Gonzaga before they lost to Butler in the Sweet 16 in Salt Lake City. Last year, SU won two games in San Jose, then played in Washington, D.C., before reaching the Final Four in Atlanta, where it lost to Michigan in the national semifinals.

"Definitely having a big fan base support you at the games is definitely exciting," Fair said. "We've just got to go out there and play and give the fans something to cheer for to give us that extra boost."

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Most memorable NCAA tourney wins in Syracuse history

Jim Boeheim and the Syracuse men's basketball team have racked up plenty of NCAA tournament wins through the years. These ones stand out from the rest. Reporter Jeff DiVeronica offers a list of the most memorable tournament wins in Syracuse history. Comment here if you have another game to add to the list.

What happened: Former Prattsburgh star Marius Janulis saved fifth-seeded SU from a first-round upset by knocking down a top-of-the key three-pointer with 1.2 seconds left after a play for Todd Burgan broke down at Rupp Arena. It was the Lithuania native's second three-pointer in the final minute for SU, which featured the talented trio of Jason Hart, Etan Thomas and Pittsford Sutherland's Ryan Blackwell.

Carmelo Anthony, right, and Hakim Warrick talk during Syracuse's game against Texas in the 2003 Final Four.

Memorable wins

5) (tie) Melo goes off

Date: April 5, 2003

Round: Final Four

Score:(3) Syracuse 95, (2) Texas 84

What happened: On this night, Carmelo Anthony stamped himself as National Player of the Year and not just Freshman of the Year. Anthony scored 33 points and grabbed 14 rebounds to take down the top-seeded Longhorns at the Superdome. It was his career high in points and his 21st double-double.

Gerry MacNamara cuts down the net after Syracuse beat Oklahoma to get to the Final Four in 2003.AP photo

Memorable wins

4) Big 12's best not a problem

Date: March 30, 2003

Round: Elite 8

Score:(3) Syracuse 63, (1) Oklahoma 47

What happened: The Orangemen beat four Big 12 teams during their run to the national title, but no victory was more decisive than their demolition of the top-seeded Sooners with a trip to the Final Four on the line. In Albany's Orange-tinted Pepsi Arena, Oklahoma shot just 31 percent (18-for-58), including 5-for-28 from three-point range and looked lost against SU's 2-3 zone. "We hadn't seen a zone like that," Sooners coach Kelvin Sampson said.

What happened: Jim Boeheim reached his first Final Four as a head coach by knocking off the top-seeded Tar Heels and legendary coach Dean Smith in the Meadowlands. Rony Seikaly had 26 points and 11 rebounds as he and freshman forward Derrick Coleman (8 points, 14 rebounds) lifted the Orange past Carolina, which had stud rookie J.R. Reid and veteran point guard, Kenny Smith.

What happened: John Wallace's leaning, three-pointer with 2.8 seconds left won it for the fourth-seeded Orangemen, who needed Jason Cipolla's baseline jumper off Wallace's long inbounds pass just to force OT in Denver. Wallace, a Greece Athena grad and senior star, had 30 points and 15 rebounds. "I just decided to let him go," Boeheim said about not calling timeout before the final play. "I didn't think he'd make it, but he never does what I think."

Carmelo Anthony cuts down the net after Syracuse defeated Kansas for the 2003 national championship.AP photo

Memorable wins

1) The biggest win of all

Date: April 7, 2003

Round: Championship game

Score:(3) Syracuse 81, (2) Kansas 78

What happened: The moment Orange fans had longed for finally arrived after Hakim Warrick blocked Michael Lee's three-point shot with 1.5 seconds left in the Superdome, giving Syracuse and coach Jim Boeheim their only title. Gerry McNamara hit six three-pointers in the first half for the third-seeded Orange and fellow freshman Carmelo Anthony had 20 points and 10 rebounds to cap his only college season with a crown.

A Syracuse fan cheers on the Orange during the 2013 tournament.AP photo

Memorable wins

What about you?

Seldom is there a top 5 ranking in sports on which most people can agree top to bottom. Is there a Syracuse NCAA tournament win not on Devo's list that deserves a mention? Which game was it and why is it etched in your memory

Coaches always say they remember the big losses more than the big wins. Suffice to say, I'm sure these ones are stamped in coach Jim Boeheim's memory. Reporter Jeff DiVeronica offers a list of the most unforgettable tournament losses in Syracuse history. Comment here if you have another game to add to the list.

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Coach Jim Boeheim yells to his players during Syracuse's second-round game against Rhode Island in 1988.AP photo

Unforgettable losses

5) (tie) 94 not enough against Rams

Date: March 19, 1988

Round: Second round

Score:(11) Rhode Island 97, (3) Syracuse 94

What happened: The third-seeded Orange were stunned by the Rams, a No. 11 seed, in Chapel Hill, N.C. Guard Tom Garrick scored 28 points and became a feel-good NCAA story because his father was blind and was the focus of many cutaway shots by TV cameras. Rhode Island had upset No. 6 Missouri in the first round. It was the ninth time in its last 10 NCAA appearances that SU failed to advance past the second round.

Illinois' Kenny Battle leaves the court with the net after helping his team clinch a spot in the Final Four in 1989.AP photo

Unforgettable losses

5) (tie) Journey ends early

Date: March 26, 1989

Round: Elite 8

Score:(1) Illinois 89, (2) Syracuse 86

What happened: In a game featuring two high-powered lineups, the top-seeded Illini grabbed the Final Four spot at stake in Minneapolis. The No. 2 Orange were one of SU's most talented teams with Sherman Douglas, Derrick Coleman, Billy Owens, Stephen Thompson and Matt Roe as starters with future future NBA first-rounders Dave Johnson and Richard Manning off the bench. Illinois had star-power, too, with Kendall Gill, Stephen Bardo, Kenny Battle, Nick Anderson and Marcus Liberty.

A file photo of David Robinson while playing for Navy. AP photo

Unforgettable losses

4) Dome is Mr. Robinson's neighborhood for a day

Date: March 16, 1986

Round: Second round

Score:(7) Navy 97, (2) Syracuse 85

What happened: David "The Admiral" Robinson sunk the second-seeded Orange in their own house, as 21,713 fans at the Carrier Dome looked on in disbelief. The 7-foot junior was unstoppable, terrorizing Rony Seikaly and six other players who fouled him. Robinson made 21 of 27 free throws en route to a 35-point, 11-rebound, 9-block game -- the last in Pearl Washington's three-season SU career. Just two of Navy's 28 baskets were scored outside the lane.

Hakim Warrick can't believe his team is on the verge of a first-round exit against Vermont.AP photo

Unforgettable losses

3) Stunned 'from the parking lot'

Date: March 18, 2005

Round: First round

Score:(13) Vermont 60, (4) Syracuse 57 OT

What happened: Taylor Coppenrath, T.J. Sorrentine and Germain Mopa Njila. Names no SU fan knew all season, but three players who led the No. 14 Catamounts to a stunning upset of Hakim Warrick, Gerry McNamara & Co. in 2005. The Big East Tournament champs played like they were waiting to flip a switch in Worcester, Mass. It never happened, and Sorrentine supplied the final dagger, drilling what turned out to be the game-winning shot -- a three-pointer from 28 feet.

What happened: The Orangemen made some infamous history in College Park, Md., becoming the first No. 2 seed to lose to a No. 15, giving arachnophobia to SU fans everywhere. The Spiders shot 62 percent in the first half to take a 44-36 lead and held on for the upset. It would be the last game All-American forward Billy Owens played for SU because he turned pro after his junior year.

What happened: Keith Smart's baseline jumper with four seconds left, forever etched in the nightmares of SU fans, won it for the Hoosiers in New Orleans. A junior-college transfer, Smart scored 12 of his team's last 15 points after Steve Alford made seven three-pointers in the first 29 minutes. Bob Knight and Indiana spoiled Jim Boeheim's first trip to the Final Four as head coach.

A Syracuse fan is stunned in the final seconds of the Orange's 2011 tournament loss to Marquette, which may just make some fans' top 5 lists. SHAWN DOWD / Staff photographer

Unforgettable losses

What about you?

Seldom is there a top 5 ranking in sports on which most people can agree top to bottom. Is there a Syracuse NCAA tournament loss not on Devo's list that deserves a mention? Which game was it and why is it etched in your memory?